Cheap, lightweight drone fishing

[Volitan]

I’m thinking some of you may find my approach to drone fishing interesting.
 

i started on drone fishing because we live beside the water but in front of us it’s shallow and the fishing is poor. About 70 meters out there is a dropoff to much deeper water where the fishing is better but I don’t like kayak fishing or turning every fishing trip into a distance casting marathon. Drones are the solution and I have a DJI drone with which I’m pretty confident - confident that is that I’d do something stupid and loose it straight away. So I looked around for a cheap drone that was capable of doing a bait drop in the 150-300 meter range, up to 100 grams payload, able to ‘park in the sky’ and sit unattended, and able to do an unattended ‘return to home’ and most importantly wouldn’t bother me if I lost it (plastic pollution issues aside).

I also wanted one that could be piloted completely by visual line of sight, ie not requiring to be flown using an app, phone or screen, as I wanted to keep things simple and robust.

 

i bought a reliable little drone that does these things for just under $100. 

100 grams payload gives you a 40 gram sinker, a whole pilchard, hooks and a swivel or two. Usually though I don’t use any sinker unless current is a problem - sinkers become less important when you’re not casting. 

I usually fish alone but using this outfit solo is pretty easy. If I remember to attach the photo you will see that I have a little home-made takeoff platform which allows fairly carefully thought-out positioning of the rod, drone and rig. This means I get a smooth take off each time. There is a tiny home-made hook on the bottom of the drone over which I hook a swivel attached to the mainline. The line only stays attached if the drone is flying forward, as soon as the drone stops it falls off. This gives me 100% reliable bait drops. It’s only good for bait dropping though - no flying around looking for fish or big changes of course. 

After the drop the rig is fished just like a normal cast rig. It’s actually quite easy to feel what’s going on 200 mtrs out if you use good, thin braid.

Does it catch more fish? Well, so far no, or maybe. I have used it a bit on the flat water estuaries near home without any great result but i haven’t really focused - waiting for the evenings to get warmer and the fishing better. I have used it twice off a local ocean beach - doing drops of pilchard baits 2-300 meters out - but only caught banjo sharks and scaley tailed puffers. Maybe that’s all there is out there in that zone at this time of year, I don’t really know. Next time I will attach a camera and see what’s there.

I really enjoy this type of fishing. It’s the combination of tinkering with gadgets, learning new skills, refining the process and demystifying environments that have been previously just beyond my reach. 

I’m hoping I can refine it towards getting out among pelagics and kingfish this summer. I might buy a better bigger drone (mavic or phantom) if I do more trips to the ocean but at the moment this one is doing everything I ask.

[Volitan]

No idea why the giant font

[AlbertW]

Good stuff, I have seen some some swellpro drones specifically designed for fishing that cost more an arm and a leg! 🏴‍☠️

[Volitan]

1 hour ago, AlbertW said:

Good stuff, I have seen some some swellpro drones specifically designed for fishing that cost more an arm and a leg! 🏴‍☠️

I haven’t seen a swellpro up close but they do look like old technology

there is a fishing drone sold out of WA called the aeroo. Cost about $600 or $1200 for the pro version. They look like a chunky mavic. I have seen mixed reviews, but may investigate them a bit closer later.

[AlbertW]

47 minutes ago, Volitan said:

I haven’t seen a swellpro up close but they do look like old technology

there is a fishing drone sold out of WA called the aeroo. Cost about $600 or $1200 for the pro version. They look like a chunky mavic. I have seen mixed reviews, but may investigate them a bit closer later.

I think I have one of the older Mavics, maybe i should learn how to use it this hols

[Volitan]

49 minutes ago, AlbertW said:

I think I have one of the older Mavics, maybe i should learn how to use it this hols

Good idea. Do plenty of trial runs over dry land first.

drone fishing is like BASE jumping - so many ways to die.

I have a mini 3 pro that I thought I might use for the job but really it’s going to be underpowered. Lift capacity is over 200 grams for the mini 2 but you need a safety margin.

[JustJames]

On 11/25/2023 at 5:34 PM, Volitan said:

I have a DJI drone with which I’m pretty confident - confident that is that I’d do something stupid and loose it straight away.

Loved that!

 

Great post.

 

I'd be really interested to know what drone you are using (I have contemplated a cheap drone - because bloke - but never acshly pulled the trigger).

 

Also, please post some pics of the drop mechanism.

 

Is the red square in front of the heliport to help the drone find its way home?

Edited November 27, 2023 by JustJames
Questions...so many questions!

[mrsswordfisherman]

On 11/25/2023 at 5:35 PM, Volitan said:

No idea why the giant font

Fixed it for you - you can go in and edit your posts - select font size ----- choose default or choose another number if you want font bigger or smaller ----- save

You had it set to 26. Perhaps you typed it in another program like word or notepad or something similar then copied and pasted it?

[Volitan]

1 hour ago, JustJames said:

Loved that!

 

Great post.

 

I'd be really interested to know what drone you are using (I have contemplated a cheap drone - because bloke - but never acshly pulled the trigger).

 

Also, please post some pics of the drop mechanism.

 

Is the red square in front of the heliport to help the drone find its way home?

I’ll attach a picture of the drone upside down so you can see the release mechanism. It’s just a piece of thin gal steel shaped as a forward-pointing hook, wired onto the bottom of the drone. It actually points downward slightly. It works because the line is always pulled to the rear of the hook, even on takeoff. As soon as the drone stops and the tension comes off the line it falls off.

the red sheet on the ground is actually to keep the drone out of the sand if I do something dumb and it crashes on takeoff. I did use it previously for landing but now I usually just let it land on the hard sand. The sand can’t get into the motors from underneath.

Not able to provide drone name at present. I can’t find the original order or invoice if I got one. There are no identifiers on the drone except the word ‘Witness’ and even the case and batteries have no identifiers so I guess they are just generic. Will look harder tonight.

BTW, I went fishing off the beach last night but caught nothing except two shovelnose sharks. I’m starting to think there isn’t much out there except when pelagics come through.

[JustJames]

Thanks - that's pretty cool.  I should be able to identify the drone online from the pic.

 

One of the great weirdnesses amongst fishos - and make no mistake, I am 100% guilty of both of these - is that people in boats want to get as close as possible to the shore, 'cause that's where the fish are, while people on shore want to cast as far out as possible, 'cause that's where the fish are.  I suspect that the actual truth, as usually is the case, is a bit more complicated than that!

[Restyle]

not a bad setup mate. keep in mind the fish on beaches tend to be closer to shore just behind the breaking waves on any of the bars. for inshore estuary's you could use apps like Navionics to find some structure under water 

[Volitan]

1 hour ago, JustJames said:

Thanks - that's pretty cool.  I should be able to identify the drone online from the pic.

 

One of the great weirdnesses amongst fishos - and make no mistake, I am 100% guilty of both of these - is that people in boats want to get as close as possible to the shore, 'cause that's where the fish are, while people on shore want to cast as far out as possible, 'cause that's where the fish are.  I suspect that the actual truth, as usually is the case, is a bit more complicated than that!

Not really easy to identify. There are dozens of models all pretty similar, but big differences in power. 

You need to look for brushless motors, battery of 7.4v/2500mAH or thereabouts.

With arms extended mine measures 250mm from motor to motor on the diagonal and propellers are 60mm per blade. As guidelines those would be the minimum.

most that look similar don’t have brushless motors and don’t generate enough power.

[Little_Flatty]

I'm hardly surprised that you've taken up drone fishing @Volitan. Perfect use for your interests and talents!

[Volitan]

Since posting I’ve had another trip off the beach. Bottom fishing off the beach has never been my interest but it has the advantage of lots of space. Anyway, same result - only action was the ray/shark hybrids. I did send a camera out though. A little spy camera which in its housing and with a lead for holding bottom weighs just 76 grams. It’s image resolution is typically bad so after 45 minutes of looking at grainy videos what I now know is that this morning, 180 meters out, there were lots of tailor which circled the bait constantly but never tried to eat it, one salmon, lots of the inevitable pufferfish, and one shovelnose shark. Attached is a videostill of the shovelnose eyeing up the camera.
 

Is anyone else fishing the beaches around Sydney or Central Coast at the moment? What are your results?

 

 

 

Edited December 3, 2023 by Volitan